1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to internal combustion engines and more particularly to accessories for such engines that facilitate the infusion of oil into the engine oil sump.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although there are a wide variety of internal combustion engines, both gasoline and diesel fueled, on the market today one common complaint to the external design of the engine is the lack of a suitable port for adding oil to the engine oil sump. Typically the oil is added through the valve cover which contains a port with a removable cover. Under the valve cover is the moving valve mechanism which is protected by a baffle plate that is attached to the inside of the valve cover. The resultant space remaining, usually less than one half inch deep, precludes the use of a conventional funnel to aid in adding oil to the engine. If oil is added using the commonly available plastic one quart containers it is necessary to maneuver the container to the valve cover port past wires, belts and other engine accessories and hold the container while the oil empties into the engine sump. The common experience is that the oil begins to flow before the container spout and the valve cover port are aligned and oil manages to contaminate the spark plug wires and the exhaust manifold where it burns off in the form of a smoke with a foul odors. Some oil residue will remain on the outside of the cover and collect dirt and dust which does not increase the efficiency of the engine.
Funnel covers for engine oil inlet ports have been considered for some time, the difficulty is that many engines have ports that are inclined to the vertical and as a result the funnel tends to collect oil that will not flow into the oil slump and the situation can become as inconvenient and messy as if there were no funnel at all.
The prior art is best exemplified by U.S. Patents that show prior efforts to resolve the problem of fluid infusion into internal combustion engines. U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,983 issued Jul. 13, 1982 to Hatcher shows an oil cap with a self contained funnel that includes a cover and means for attaching the funnel to some support structure in the engine compartment. Also U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,726 issued Sep. 24, 1985 to Ruter who shows a cap that is threaded at the base and is covered at the top and contains some volume between the top and bottom. A 1987 U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,867 issued Nov. 3rd to Schoenhard discloses a oil filler funnel cap with a rigid trunk that engages the engine valve cover. A cap with a collapsible funnel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,521 issued Jul. 23, 1991 to Martin who shows a variety of means for collapsing the funnel down near or into the oil cap. Contrarily, the U.S. Patent issued to Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,157 on Feb. 23, 1993 discloses an extensible oil cap which telescopes and acts as a funnel for adding oil to the engine.
The references taken alone of in combination with these or other references fail to suggest a flexible funnel structure disclosed and claimed herein.